Shaping the Future of Virtual & Blended Learning

Big ideas—and team members from all across the country—came together at Launch Virtual Learning yesterday, turning a typical school day into something much bigger for dozens of students.

A 10-member team from Instructure, the company behind the Canvas Learning Management System, spent the day on-site with Launch administrators, teachers, and students for a Customer Discovery Session. Canvas is the learning management system, a.k.a. the “online classroom,” for all of SPS’ and Launch Virtual Learning’s online courses. “We’re here today to co-create with our end users,” said Ruth Thornton, Director of Product Management for Canvas LMS.

Canvas team members traveled from across the country—including Austin, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Portland, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, and Connecticut—to collaborate alongside Launch administrators, teachers, and students. But they weren’t the only ones who made the trip: leaders from virtual schools in Montana, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, and Oklahoma also traveled hundreds of miles to Springfield to take part in the event.

Canvas hosted nine sessions across three tracks—administrator, educator, and learner—to connect with dozens of Launch students, teachers, and leaders and learn their likes (and dislikes) of the learning management system. In one room, elementary students sketched out their “dream dashboards,” while in another, educators shared what’s working (and what could be better) in their day-to-day experiences.

“Within these groups, we were really trying to understand the real, lived experience of using Canvas,” Thornton said. “It’s about co-creating with our end users.”

Ruth McFarland, another member of the Instructure team, highlighted just how valuable these conversations are for the national company, which supports millions of users worldwide. “We’re connecting with the people who actually use our product every day,” she said. “We’re interrogating our plans and trying to understand where we’re hitting the mark. These sessions help us make sure we’re building something that truly moves virtual learning forward.”

For Launch and Springfield Public Schools, it was a chance to be part of something bigger.

“We’ve been using Canvas in our district for 15 years now, so our team brings a deep understanding of what truly supports teaching and learning in the virtual setting,” said Dr. Nichole Lemmon, Director of Launch Virtual Learning. “It was incredibly rewarding to have our students and educators at the table, helping influence decisions that will impact learners far beyond our district—and even far beyond Missouri.”

Out of just 15 sessions happening globally this year, Springfield stood out—not just as a longtime Canvas user, but as a passionate, engaged partner ready to help lead the way.